Laws restricting dog breeds unfair, Humane Society says (OMG! PITBULL!!!)

[uppityperson]

http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=68374

MARTIN COUNTY - Proposed state legislation that could allow local governments to ban so-called dangerous dog breeds is coming under fire. Florida House Bill 543 and its identical counterpart, Senate Bill 1276, could give local authorities new power to restrict certain breeds.

Current legislation makes provisions for dealing with dogs that behave dangerously, on a case-by-case basis, and outlines how each dog should be treated, rather than dictating which breeds are deemed dangerous. And local animal advocates say that's the way it ought to be, dismissing the proposed laws as misguided. They say all breeds can contain dangerous animals, and that socialization is key in determining a dog's temperament.

"Current legislation that allows counties to identify dangerous dogs by their actions is perfectly acceptable," said Frank Valente, president of the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast. "Having breed-specific legislation really defeats the purpose of what responsible ownership is all about."

Mr. Valente's organization rescues hundreds of abandoned animals each year, and volunteers work with dogs of all breeds. They say once the animals are in loving environments, free of abuse, all breeds can be gentle. Instead of laws to restrict breeds, the group recommends legislation against cruelty, which often makes animals violent, they say. Dog fighting and chaining in backyards, for instance, can make animals feel desperate and cornered, forcing them to attack....

[LiberalFighter]

1. As usual, too much legislation is based on emotion instead of the facts.

[HelenWheels]

2. Dog fighting

Maybe if pitbulls were outlawed it would put a curb on dog fighting. But then, knowing what kind of jerks fight dogs they would just move to another breed.

[uppityperson]

5. that is the problem, banning one dog doesn't change the problem behavior of the assholes

[KathieG]

10. Exactly...they will just pick another breed to use for fighting.

[flvegan]

7. Then what? More presas? Maybe they discover the caucasian ovcharka?

You want to see problems? Imagine a 130 pound dog that when trained, is more vicious than anything we've ever seen from a dog. A dog that you'll need to shoot to stop.

[dana_b]

11. or a dogo argentino

another huge dog. Never heard of a caucasian ovcharka though. Will go look it up!!

You have a pit rescue, right?? If so, you rock! It's my pit mix's fourth b-day today. We rescued her when she was still a pup. Love the silly dog!!

[flvegan]

12. I love the dogo! We've had a few come through here.

I do run a rescue that's mostly pits, and thank you. And thank you for rescuing your pup!

The CO also goes by the name Volkodav, primarily in Russia where they have a massive dog fighting problem.

[dana_b]

18. I looked the CO up

wow!! huge and this is scary:
"Unless properly socialized and trained, the Caucasian Ovtcharka may exhibit ferocious and unmanageable tendencies. It is very brave, alert, strong and hardy. It does not accept people it does not know and it has a powerful urge to defend. Everything and everyone who belongs to the family, including children, cats, other dogs, etc, will be regarded by this dog as part of "its" family and will be respected and protected. This dog should not be left alone with children, because if play becomes too rough, the Caucasian Ovtcharka my feel the need to protect your child, and may do it extensively"

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/caucasianowtcharka.htm

You're right - if the pit goes the way of the dodo, then there will be another dog to take its place. There are a lot of stupid, irresponsible people out there.

[flvegan]

19. That's a pretty accurate description. Good find.

[MadHound]

3. This is funny coming from the Humane Society,

Given that every Humane Society I've dealt with puts down pits and pit mixes almost as soon as they come in the door.

[uppityperson]

4. I guess those of us who have adopted them from Humane Society are...special?

Or maybe you haven't dealt with enough of them?

[MadHound]

6. Granted, I've not dealt with many outside of my state,

But I've had some sort of dealings with almost every Humane Society in my state, and have yet to find one, rural or urban, that puts pits or pit mixes up for adoption, no matter how gentle and well behaved they are.

Nice to see other Humane Societies in other states aren't so backassward.

[flvegan]

8. I posted this in the veg group earlier tonight. Good article on this bill:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=231x20435

[uppityperson]

14. Thank you. "looked like a pit bull" pshaw. Many vets and animal control people can't correctly ID

a pit bull, much less regular people.

"To regulate the kind of dogs that have killed people in Florida, lawmakers would have to crack down on not just pit bulls but boxers, presa canarios, American bulldogs, golden retrievers, Labradors, Australian shepherds, Weimaraners, Rottweilers and maybe even those chubby, comical Welsh corgis."

[Motown_Johnny]

9. tell that to the parent of a child killed by a pitbull

[uppityperson]

13. I have been attacked by a golden lab, mixed small mutt, st bernard

It is not a breed that causes a problem. When my toddler was bit by a fox terrier, I did not go on a crusade to have fox terriers banned, but blamed the owner for not training the dog.


http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1086363.ece
"To regulate the kind of dogs that have killed people in Florida, lawmakers would have to crack down on not just pit bulls but boxers, presa canarios, American bulldogs, golden retrievers, Labradors, Australian shepherds, Weimaraners, Rottweilers and maybe even those chubby, comical Welsh corgis."
(clip)
"It's almost impossible to differentiate pit bulls from other, similar breeds," he said. "I don't support a breed ban at all. It's the individual owners, not the animals, in almost every case I've seen."
(clip)
Studies using DNA analysis have shown that adoption agencies guessed a dog's breed wrong 75 percent of the time. Owners, neighbors, bystanders, police and newspaper reporters likely fare no better."

[Arugula Latte]

15. Jeez! That's a lot of attacks ... Once again, I'm happy to be a hardcore Cat Person.

:)

[uppityperson]

16. I've lived a long life, was quite active as a kid. Now I have a big dog and several cats

First thing I did with the big dog was train it to listen, to drop the toy we were playing with if he felt my hand in his mouth, to let me take his food away, etc. It took longer to get him to quit chasing chickens, but I managed.

That said, I lived with a husky/wolf cross who I ended up having put down because he was becoming too scary to live with. He stood me off from the door one night, so I gave in until the owner got home. We took him in the next day, no need to wait for him to attack me and he had issues.

Now the cats. If only I could train them to not pat me on the face to wake me in the morning, or at least to keep the claws in.

[JonLP24]

17. These kind of threads

are why I avoided GD for over a freakin' year! I have a APBT and she is sweet, obedient, and intelligent dog. She only weighs freakin' 35 pounds and is smaller than my two Gordan Setters that could far more damage if they were abused and neglected. So to me it seems silly to ban the breed and even more silly using stories that represent 1% of the breeds("Pit bull" can mean several breeds in the Molosser family) to justify such a ban.

After this post I'm hiding this thread. That was a great post uppity so it's not that, I'm hiding because of the flamewar with over 300 replies is about to kick off.

Predictions:Locking jaw will come up and someone will bring up CDC statistics which admits their own study is flawed.